Frustrated Highway 17 Commuters Remove Downed Tree

Published Tuesday February 21

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS – Nowhere in the Bay Area are commuters more frustrated with the recent rainy weather than on Hwy seventeen – the main artery to San Jose from Santa Cruz through the Santa Cruz Mountains.

For weeks, a colossal slide has put a near stranglehold on traffic as it has blocked abundant lanes. More than an hour has been added to the daily commute each way.

So when a gigantic Redwood tumbled onto the roadway at around three in the afternoon during Monday’s storm, the commuters took matters into their own hands.

Some of the drivers had chainsaws in their cars.

They exited their vehicles, fired up the chainsaws and began slicing the tree into pieces.